my life for living

Friday 14 October 2016

when life gives you lemons : part ii

Posted on 16:38 by Ashleigh Brown Studio with No comments

Hello again everyone! I know I have been awful at this since my laptop broke but the good news is I have bought myself a shiny new one!!! So posts will become regular again and I can finally start sharing my photos and work here too. Come back soon for some updates!

When life gives you lemons

Posted on 20:33 by Ashleigh Brown Studio with No comments

Hi everyone!
So after my first week of blogging and starting a proper posting schedule my laptop decided to die on me. It's been extremely frustrating and until I can get it fixed I'm stuck typing on my tablet, which is less than ideal.
I've been using my spare time to start crafting again though. I've started noting ideas for new products and I've been busy on the sewing machine testing my ideas out.
Hopefully I can discover a way to share images and creativity here soon.
Thanks for reading!!
Ashleigh

Book Review : A little life - Hanya Yanagihara

Posted on 11:00 by Ashleigh Brown Studio with No comments

Hi everyone! As I have previously mentioned I am a bit of a book obsessive and I pretty much constantly have at least one book on the go if not more.

My latest read has been A little life by Hanya Yanagihara as you guessed. Now I know there has been much hype about this manbooker nominee and I am as usual skeptical about anything that has a lot of hype, however the hype this time seemed to be coming from booktuber's I watch and respect so I caved and bought a copy.

The sheer hugeness of this book would usually send it to the bottom of my TBR pile for a while but I needed to know what all this hype was about so I started it on the 10th of this month and finished it on the 26th.

So let me start by saying this book actually destroyed me. I was discussing it and explaining the plot with my mum on the day I finished it and when I described everything that happens it suddenly sounded so far fetched and unbelievable but I think the length of the book makes the whole thing seem a lot more believable and realistic.

The book is set over the span of the four characters lives but two of the four are much more central to the story.

We meet Willem, Malcolm, Jean-baptiste and Jude. Four seemingly average young men going through college and life with the help of each other.

We follow their lives and become aware of Jude's problems early on. Needless to say Jude and Willem become the central characters and their friendship is truly mesmerizing. I found myself longing for such friendships, which given the context seems weird but their relationship is so intense and their bond so strong that I still yearned for it.

Throughout the novel we learn more about Jude just as his friends do. I thought this was incredibly clever of the author as there are small snippets of information fed to us, making the story so relatable that you almost feel like you are one of them witnessing all that they witness.

This book is truly heartbreaking, it involves physical abuse, sexual abuse, self harm, and self loathing to the point where I actually read a whole chapter with a constant stream of tears running down my face.

However there are beautiful moments of sheer joy within the story too. With this the author also allows the reader a peek into the harrowing disease of depression. Cleverly allowing us to see that happiness is possible but it also can fade as fast as it appears. We seem to experience everything that these characters experience.

Jude's health problems and struggles throughout life really made me appreciate my health and my ability to do whatever I choose. It also made me crave travel.

Once out of college the friends all follow very different paths. An actor, an artist, an architect and a litigator emerge.

I became so emotionally invested in this story. Probably more so than any other book I have ever read. The scenes with the gallery openings are probably my favourite and I could so vividly see each and every moment that was captured in my mind. They were a perfect way to express each relationship from the outside, another tactic I found extremely clever.

By the end I was just a complete and utter mess of a person and it honestly took me a while to pull myself together. It has been a harrowing journey but one I definitely don't regret taking which is how I imagine the characters felt too.

I gave this five stars on goodreads and although I know it wont be for everyone I would definitely recommend giving it a try.

Have you read anything amazing lately? Have you read this book? How did you feel about it?

Let me know any recommendations you have in the comments.

Trend Love : Rose Gold

Posted on 11:00 by Ashleigh Brown Studio with No comments

Hello Again! One of the things I really miss about doing uni research is making moodboard's of upcoming trends or trends I was using for inspiration. So I am super excited to be making them again to share here.

I loved researching for creative work and trend research was one of my favourite tasks. This trend in particular I find really beautiful. I love how it has effected almost all areas of design.

From home-ware to weddings and everything in between, you can find this rose gold and copper trend going strong.

I particularly love it paired with stripped back grey and concrete tones. It seems the rosey tone brings a softness to quite harsh, industrial materials and I like the contrast of the two when combined.

Find the original images on my pinterest here - Rose Gold

Which current trends are you guys loving? Let me know in the comments!

A little bit about me...

Posted on 12:00 by Ashleigh Brown Studio with No comments

Hey there! Today I just wanted to tell you a few things about myself so we can get better acquainted. So here goes...

My name is Ashleigh.
I live in the North East of England with my two cats.
I am textiles design graduate.
I work in retail and I can truly say for the first time in a long time that I love my job.
I love reading and buy books obsessively.
I really enjoy cooking and love meal planning.
I buy a lot of makeup. Mostly by Makeup Revolution.
My reason for starting up a new blog was to encompass all of my interests where previous blogs had been specific to one area which made me feel restricted.
I love good design and am a huge colour fan. It plays a major role throughout my whole life.
I am a huge fan of indie cinema.
I tend to binge watch TV shows.
It seems that everything I do, I do obsessively. I don't do things by halves.

Fresh starts

Posted on 20:00 by Ashleigh Brown Studio with No comments

Hello there! And welcome to my very new online space. I have had blogs in the past for college and creative work but now that I am doing different things with my life I really wanted a place where I could document and share my life. I wanted to be able to include all of my interests and not just the creative ones. So here we go once again! Starting a new journey, I hope you enjoy coming along with me.